The present invention is related generally to crew rest areas of an aircraft. More particularly, the present invention is related to crew rest area berth systems and functionality, flexibility, and creature comfort and convenience thereof.
System design of modern aircraft can account for various customer requirements, which can be analyzed based on selected categories, such as safety, ergonomics, support system capability, functionality, and multi-use application capability. It is desirable within the airline industry for a system of interest to satisfy multiple categories. For example, a staircase may be designed to be both functional and ergonomic, thereby satisfying multiple categories. The satisfying of multiple categories provides system efficiency, minimizes system costs, and simplifies and provides lightweight systems.
Modern aircraft typically include crew rest areas that may have enclosures, such as berth enclosures, seating enclosures, lavatory enclosures, and stowage enclosures. A berth enclosure typically provides an area for sleeping and/or resting horizontally only.
A majority of traditional berths include separate rigid type structures, which often have simple rectangular shapes. These structures can be somewhat uncomfortable, occupy a considerable amount of space, and have minimal position adjustment and limited orientation flexibility.
Also, traditional berths tend to be creature comfort limited and have limited or restricted space for occupant movement therein, which is partially attributable from the minimal amount of space allotted for crew rest areas in an aircraft. Also, traditional crew rests have dedicated enclosures to provide seats. These enclosures increase the overall cost and weight of the crew rest.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved crew rest area that combines the functionality of both a typical seat as well as that of a berth enclosure.